The six ships of the MACKENZIE and ANNAPOLIS classes were originally
supposed to have been part of the MACKENZIE class, but the last two
were built to the ST. LAURENT DDH design. These ships spent most of
their time on the West Coast, and never saw any major conversions
other than DELEX. All four ships were primarily used in the training
role.

The MACKENZIE class was superficially similar to the previous
RESTIGOUCHE class ships. The RESTIGOUCHE class was a natural follow-on
to the original ST. LAURENT class, and indeed only had a few minor
improvements. The most noticeable were the replacement of the forward
3"/50 with a 3"/70, and the presence of a fire control director atop
the bridge superstructure. In order to see over the new gun mount, the
bridge was raised one full deck higher than on the previous ships.

The Vickers 3"/70 Mk.6 was developed by the Royal Navy and fitted to
their TIGER class cruisers. The RCN was the only other customer. It was
designed to fire up to 120 rounds per minute per barrel (although this
was limited in service to 90 to reduce barrel wear), and the mazazine
for this gun was referred to as the "bottling plant" for its handling
of ammunition. It took several years to work out the bugs in this
weapon, however. This mounting was not available when QU'APPELLE was
built, and she therefore received a 3"/50 gun mounting forward instead.

After being paid off, MACKENZIE was used in an episode of "The X-Files"
before being scuttled as an artificial reef off Sidney, BC.
SASKATCHEWAN was sunk off Nanaimo on June 14/97. YUKON was sunk off San
Diego as an artificial reef during 2000.

Ships:

Name

Pendant

Commissioned

DELEX

Paid Off

MACKENZIE

261

6/10/62

16/1/87

3/8/93

SASKATCHEWAN

262

16/2/63

17/6/86

28/3/94

YUKON

263

25/5/63

16/1/85

3/12/93

QU'APPELLE

264

14/9/63

13/1/84

31/7/92

Photos:

(click on thumbnail for bigger image)

MACKENZIE

Notes:

1. HMCS MACKENZIE in the
ice. DND photo.
2. MACKENZIE. DND photo, Courtesy of Dave Shirlaw.
3. MACKENZIE kicks up spray while pushing through a wave in the
Pacific.
Members of the bridge crew can just be made out on the port bridge wing
facing aft to avoid the spray. Courtesy of Corvus Publishing
Group./Canada's
Navy.

1. A publicity shot of
HMCS YUKON leaving San Diego in about 1978, while on
her way down to South America. DND photo. DND photo, Courtesy of J.
Michael
Gibson
2. YUKON in the harbour at Sydney, Australia, with the Sydney Harbour
Bridge in the background. DND photo, Courtesy Pat Walton.
3. YUKON pulls alongside HMCS PROVIDER for a RAS. Note that the forward
gun mounting has been turned to face aft to prevent damage from
oncoming seas. Pat Walton photo.
4. An early photo of YUKON. DND photo, courtesy of RCNA Peregrine.